


Dear Rin

by maki_senpai



Category: Free!
Genre: Confessions, Feelings, Fluff, Getting Together, Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Phone Calls, Pre-Relationship, Reunions, S3 timeline, SO MUCH FLUFF, Surprises, Theyre just idiots, haruka sucks at letters, im yearning leave me alone, its fine tho, literally just fluff, this was a product of a brainrot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maki_senpai/pseuds/maki_senpai
Summary: “Hey, you.” He chuckled through the phone while Haru sat up, his heart beating wildly in his chest.“Is everything okay?”“I...yeah. Everything’s fine.”“Doesn’t sound like it.”“Mmm. There is one thing.”“What’s wrong?”“I still haven’t received a letter from you.”
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Dear Rin

~~_Dear Rin,_ ~~

~~_I’ve settled into my new apartment in Tokyo. It’s small but I can’t help but think it’s too big._ ~~

~~_Maybe because_ ~~

~~_Dear Rin,_ ~~

~~_I finished setting up everything in my new apartment. I left space for your things in the closet. Just in case you_ ~~

~~_Dear Rin,_ ~~

~~_I don’t know why I can’t just text you, but your insistence on handwritten letters compelled me. Anyway, the apartment’s okay. The bed’s a bit too big for just me and_ ~~

~~_Dear Rin,_ ~~

~~_I hope Australia’s treating you better than it did the first time. Maybe when you get back, it’ll be my turn to show you around. Maybe you’ll find the other half of what dream I found when you kidnapped me to Australia._ ~~

~~_That dream was-- is to_ ~~

Haruka sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Why were letters so difficult? Or rather, why were letters to _Rin_ so difficult?

It’s been a month since he’s settled into a new norm in his new life in a new city. A month of short texts and calls exchanged with Rin. But the hopeless romantic in Rin had pestered Haru about handwritten letters. Something about meaning and taking the time or whatever. Haru wasn’t listening and only watched the graceful movements of his...barely boyfriend’s mouth as he said words. 

They’ve confessed to each other but neither made a move to do something about it. Mostly because they confessed the day before Rin left for Australia.

They had a mutual understanding in waiting for the right time for _them_ to happen, and with the big changes in their lives, they knew that the other would be waiting with their hand stretched out to take. They also knew the other would wait for as long as they needed. 

Haru sighed once more and stared at another blank page before him. 

~~_Dear Rin,_ ~~

~~_Whenever you decide on visiting Tokyo, just know that my apartment will always welcome you. And maybe you can call it h_ ~~

Frustrated, Haruka gave up and sprawled himself on the floor as he stared at the ceiling fan that slowly spun. Before he could form a coherent thought, his phone vibrated beside him and he bitterly grumbled. Without looking at the caller, he answered.

“Hello?” 

_“And here I thought you’d be at least a little bit excited.”_ Haru could hear the grin behind those words.

“Rin?”

_“Hey, you.”_ He chuckled through the phone while Haru sat up, his heart beating wildly in his chest. 

“Is everything okay?”

_“I...yeah. Everything’s fine.”_

“Doesn’t sound like it.” 

_“Mmm. There is one thing.”_

“What’s wrong?”

_“I still haven’t received a letter from you.”_

“Seriously?”

_“Yes! Seriously! It’s been a month and I keep checking the mail like an idiot.”_

“Writing letters is hard and I scrapped five just now.” 

_“Oh? Too lovestruck to put your feelings into words?~”_

“Shut up.” 

Rin chuckled and sighed, his tone softening, _“Were you really trying though?”_

“Well, yeah…” Haruka thanked whatever entity was out there that Rin didn’t decide on a video call, otherwise he’d see the furious blush that spread across his face.

_“Read them to me.”_

“Wh- what?”

_“The ones you scrapped. Read them to me.”_

“No way. They’re scrapped for a reason.”

_“But you wrote it with the intent for me to read them.”_

“That’s not how it works.”

_“It’s totally how it works. Now come on!”_

“Don’t you have to be up early?” 

_“It’s only seven. Now read up, loverboy.”_

“Tch.” 

Rin heard shuffling in the background as Haruka gathered the scattered paper, containing crossed out sentences.

_“Come on, Haru. Enough stalling.”_

“Okay, okay.” Haru cleared his throat, letting out a shaky breath and hoped that Rin didn’t hear it. “The uh. The first one. ‘ _Dear Rin_ , _I’ve settled into my new apartment in Tokyo. It’s small but I can’t help but think it’s too big. Maybe because_ .’ And I stopped there.”  
  
_“Maybe because...what?”_

“Maybe because you aren’t here.” Haru’s voice was quiet but so clear to Rin as his breath hitched.

A bout of silence overtook them with only their unsteady breathing coming from either end of the line, until Rin cleared his throat. “What’s um… what’s the second one?” 

“‘ _Dear Rin, I finished setting up everything in my new apartment. I left space for your things in the closet. Just in case you…_ ’ Just in case you decide to… come here. Is what I wanted to say. It’s.. it’s stupid that’s why I…”

Rin could feel tears well up in his eyes, but dammit, Haru didn’t need to know that. _“It’s not. It’s not stupid. It’s… That’s really sweet, Haru.”_

“The third one, _‘Dear Rin, I don’t know why I can’t just text you, but your insistence on handwritten letters compelled me. Anyway, the apartment’s okay. The bed’s a bit too big for just me and…’_ and I think the vacant space belongs to you.”

Rin sniffled at the other side of the phone, wiping a stray tear that managed to escape. 

“Rin, are you crying?” 

_“Shut up! I’m not. It’s just… dusty. Keep going.”_

A ghost of a smile made its way to Haru’s features as he picked up the next letter and read, “‘ _Dear Rin, I hope Australia’s treating you better than it did the first time. Maybe when you get back, it’ll be my turn to show you around. Maybe you’ll find the other half of what dream I found when you kidnapped me to Australia. That dream was-- is to…_ ’ um…” 

_“Wait. Other half? What do you mean?”_

“When we stood at the starting blocks of the pool, I saw visions of the crowd cheering me on. I felt the exhilarating feeling of being in competition and knowing that I’m about to own the water. But I also saw something else. I saw _you_ beside me. Not just on the next block over, but beside me to take on the world. Beside me in the future beyond competitive swimming; That dream is to live a life with you by my side to make up for the years we didn’t get to spend together.” Haruka didn’t know where the confidence came from, but he went with it, figuring that now’s the best time to pour his heart out to his best friend, his rival, his soulmate, _his Rin._

_“Haru…”_

“And the last letter I wrote I said, _‘Whenever you decide on visiting Tokyo, just know that my apartment will always welcome you. And maybe you can call it h…’_ Home. Not the apartment necessarily. But that, you could call _me_ home. That you can go wherever I am and recognize it as home. Because that’s what you are to me, because I…”

_“I love you.”_ Rin beat him to it. “ _You’re an idiot, Haru. God…”_ Rin sobbed through the phone and Haru’s smile grew, his own silent tears falling.

“I love you, Rin. Even when I didn’t know I did. And maybe that’s why I can’t seem to write something properly.” 

Rin simply answered back with sniffles and contained sobs because really, he had no coherent reply to Haru’s declaration of… what even is it? Love? A proposal? He did just say he wanted a future with him. The only thing that snapped him out of his daze were the sniffles coming from Haru’s end.

_“Haru, you’re crying?”_

“No, I’m not. It’s just dusty.” The teasing tone in Haru’s voice as he repeated Rin’s earlier ones sent a wave of warm fondness through Rin’s heart. 

_“Oh hush. Was that all the letters?”_

“Yeah.” 

_“Who knew you were a romantic?”_

“I’m not.” 

Rin laughed light-heartedly while Haruka grumbled in half-annoyance. Both of them sighed at the same time. 

“I miss you.”

_“I miss you.”_

Their eyes widened as they said the same words at the same time. 

_“I’ll be there soon.”_ Rin said, being the first to collect himself. _“I’ll be_ home _soon.”_

Haruka’s smile widened impossibly at the insinuation of Rin’s words. 

“I’ll be here.” 

Soon, they bid their goodnights with a few of their playful banters before they finally hung up with warm feelings in their chests. And with newfound inspiration, Haruka took to the papers and wrote. 

_Dear Rin,_

_We just got off the phone and I know you said I didn’t have to write you a letter anymore. But, I’ll do it at least once. For you. And now that I think about it, a lot of what I do is for you. Anyway, The new apartment’s nice and I think you’d like it. It’s modern enough for you and traditional enough for me. It has a mix of what we both like and I think some part of me always kept thinking about your preferences while finding an apartment here. Probably because I saw my future with you. That’s not to say I won’t beat you during the All-Japan Invitationals though. Just because I love you doesn’t mean I’ll let you win, you know._

_I can’t wait to face the world with you. And I can’t wait to swim with you again._

_I don’t know when you’ll get this letter, but, I think I’ve said enough. It’s not like we don’t call or text every day anyway._

_I miss you. Come home soon._

_Love, Haru_

  
  


* * *

  
  


Rin grinned at the letter he’s memorized at this point and folded it up neatly, tucking it away in his jacket for safe-keeping. He stretched his legs out as much as he could in the cramped airplane seat as he leaned forward to look out the tiny window, seeing the Tokyo lights just below him. He wasn’t supposed to fly in until a couple weeks later, just before the All-Japan. But after hearing Haruka’s words and the letter he got, he couldn’t really stay put even if he tried. 

Sure, he was only gonna be in town for a few days, but he needed to _show_ Haru that he’s not the only one feeling the things he did. It’s been a long time coming for the two of them and they knew that and Rin was ecstatic that they’ve finally come to this point. Which made him book the next flight to Japan as soon as he could. And with a few minutes of his flight left, Rin’s excitement couldn’t be contained. He hadn’t told Haru he was coming, only asking Sousuke and Makoto if they knew Haru would be home by the time he landed. Once he got the confirmation, he immediately knew what to do as soon as he set foot off the plane. 

Once he landed, he (im)patiently got through customs, baggage claims, security, and finally, out the doors of the airport. He summoned a cab, not wanting to deal with the slowness of public transit because, dammit, he will do whatever he can just to see Haru as soon as humanly possible. He told the cab driver the address Makoto texted him and watched the scenery go by as they finally drove off. His heart was pounding and could almost feel Haru in his arms. 

Meanwhile, Haruka laid on the floor, not even making it to his couch from the harsh training he’d undergone with Coach Ryuuji. His muscles were sore and he could barely lift a finger. However, he still willed himself to pull his phone out and dial the number he knew by heart. He barely talked to Rin today and was puzzled as to why he didn’t get his usual updates from the man. He wondered if that was the reason why training was especially hard today. He waited three rings until he got an answer.

_“Hey, Haru!”_ Rin’s voice enthusiastically rang through and it’s almost as if that alone gave Haruka the strength to move mountains.

“Rin. You sound excited. Are you home?”

_“I just had a really good time at training today. And to answer your question, almost. I decided to walk home since it’s a pretty nice day.”_

Haru hummed in response, “Is that why you barely texted me today?” 

_“Look at you, checking your phone often enough to notice.”_ Rin teased. 

“Shut up.” 

The other chuckled, _“But yeah, sorry. How was training?”_

“Hard. I’m on the floor because I couldn’t make it to the couch.” 

_“That rough, huh?”_

“Yeah, I’m trying to find the strength to make dinner. I would skip it all together, but I know you wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.”

_“Damn right! Especially after a harsh training session. You need to eat some meat too! Build muscle and mackerel alone won’t give you that.”_

“See? This is--” 

A knock on his door interrupted him and wondered if Makoto forgot he had keys to Haruka’s apartment. 

“Oh, one sec, I think Makoto’s at the door.”

_“‘Kay.”_

Begrudgingly (and painfully,) Haru took whatever strength he had left and lifted himself off the floor, phone still against his ear as he padded over to the door. Once he opened it, his phone dropped. Instead of Makoto, he was met by bright, burgundy eyes, a killer grin and a phone up to his ear that slowly lowered. Without another word, Haru pulled him by the jacket and into a desperate hug as if to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming. Rin hugged back just as tightly, burying his face into the crook of Haru’s neck, taking in the scent he’s loved for years. They stayed that way for who knows how long, just basking in the presence of one another. Haru pulled away ever so slightly just to look up at Rin’s beautiful face, blue eyes blinking up at the other in disbelief. Rin simply smiled and brought a hand up to cup Haruka’s face, caressing his cheek bone with his thumb, the other leaning into the touch like it wasn’t the first time they held each other so tenderly. 

“Rin, you’re-”

“I’m home.”

**Author's Note:**

> My [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SOUM4KI)
> 
> Don't mind me and my brainrot.  
> Hope you enjoyed!


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